KUANTAN: Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah confirmed that the 16 crewmen of a ship arrested by Iranian authorities for allegedly smuggling oil near Abu Musa Island in the Persian Gulf are not Malaysians.
The Malaysian Embassy in Tehran and the Iranian Foreign Ministry communicated and verified the details, he said, adding that the ship involved was also not registered in Malaysia.
Saifuddin said the ship's name was "First Lady" and carried the Panama flag.
"The ship and people on board have no links to Malaysia.
"None of the 16 men are Malaysians, the ship is not registered in Malaysia and is not owned by a Malaysian.
"We are unsure how Malaysia became involved in this but we have verified the report and it does not involve us in any way," he told a press conference at the Desa Indera Mahkota 1 library, here, today.
Saifuddin, who is also Indera Mahkota Member of Parliament, was handing out Back To School sets to 20 students from SK Pendidkan Khas Indera Mahkota.
On Monday, the AFP news agency reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a ship suspected of fuel-smuggling and arrested 16 crew members that were believed to be Malaysians.
Quoting the website of IRIB state television, the report said Iranian authorities confiscated 1.3 million litres of “smuggled fuel” from the unnamed vessel 15 nautical miles from Abu Musa island.